<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Stronger Together by ReadandWritetheWorld</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537288">Stronger Together</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadandWritetheWorld/pseuds/ReadandWritetheWorld'>ReadandWritetheWorld</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Uchiha Sasuke, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Canon's Cool but the Growth is Shit, Everyone gets a friend dammit, Everything Can Be Solved With a Good Hug, Fix It, Fix Your Childhood Trauma Pls, Functional Team 7, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, I Never Watched Shippuden, Naruto gets a friend!, SAKURA IS A BADASS, Sakura gets the growth she deserves, Sakura is orphaned in the Kyuubi attack and befriends Naruto at the orphanage, Sasuke gets a friend!, Team as Family, i'm a sucker for found families, mostly canon, orphan sakura</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:14:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,825</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537288</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadandWritetheWorld/pseuds/ReadandWritetheWorld</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura is orphaned in the Kyuubi attack and grows up in an orphanage. She meets Naruto at a young age and they grow close. A 'what if?', with orphan Sakura, childhood friends Sakura and Naruto, and the changes wrought upon the Naruto world with this one difference.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>234</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prologue: a separate introductory section of a literary work (Merriam Webster)</p><p>Hello! I have an outline for this but still no idea what I'm doing. This is for fun! And also out of pettiness because I've been fuming on Sakura's lack of character growth in Naruto for years and I decided to finally do something about it. If anyone actually reads this and wants to know, I don't have an update schedule because I'm horrible at following deadlines, but I'm very invested in this story! So I fully intend on continuing and completing this! This is just the prologue, so the other chapters will be longer, but this part needed to get out first. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakura is born with her eyes wide open and her tiny fists clenched, as if ready to brawl.</p><p>The doctor chuckles as she hands the screaming infant to her mother. “She’ll grow to be quite the fighter, that one,” the doctor says, wiping her hands clean on a towel. As she turns to face the happy couple, she asks, "And what should I call this fearsome warrior?"</p><p>The new mother and father ooh and ahh over their newborn, playing with her small fists and cooing over her watchful eyes. Seeing the beginnings of pink tuft on the top of her daughter’s head, the mother beams, her sweat-soaked face gleaming as she leans into her husband’s chest and says, “We’ll name her Sakura.”</p><p>The first few months of Haruno Sakura’s life pass in a haze of newborn babble, full to the brim with love and care, her parents never leaving her side. She sleeps in a crib in her parents’ room, the crib painted a light pink to match the color growing on her head. Her parents take her into town with them every time they go out, smiling proudly as strangers coo over their child’s head, complimenting the unusual color of her hair and her quiet demeanor. At night, her parents take turns holding her and sing to her, songs full of light and love, until she falls into a peaceful sleep.</p><p>At four months old, she loses it all.</p><p>The Kyuubi attack comes out of the dark one windy October night, scattering the shinobi forces of Konoha and decimating the village.</p><p>The Kyuubi is a terrifying creature to behold, unrestrained malice pouring out of every whip of his nine tails. His red fur raises in hackles, and his mouth, big enough to easily fit fifty grown men, is pulled back in heart-stopping snarls, revealing his sharp teeth dripping with wet saliva. For the few villagers with the poor luck to be near enough to witness his wrath, their hearts stop immediately, primal fear rising too quickly and too strong, the demon’s presence and mad eyes too overwhelming for them to handle. Still more lose their lives in the effort to protect the village and hold back the demon. Even after the chakra demon's defeat, many would never fully recover from the bone-chilling sounds they heard that night and would forever be a little more careful turning corners and quicker to jump at unexpected noises.</p><p>The names of those lost in the battle are memorialized on a stone, the list so long and vast that few of those who remember can stand to look for longer than a passing glance. One name bleeds into the other, and transforms the large stone into a horrifying reminder that many choose to forget. With time, the flowers set by the stone wither and are not replaced, and the trampled grass grows back around the memorial, save for one bouquet of white flowers, replaced daily, and one well-traveled path, long and lonely.</p><p>On the stone, the names Haruno Kizashi and Haruno Mebuki lay side-by-side among hundreds of others, lost in the anonymity of a crowd, nothing to indicate the infant daughter who had been left behind.</p><p>Sakura is placed in an orphanage, filled to its breaking point with others who, like her, lost their families in the attack, and some who had lived there longer, with no family left to lose.</p><p>Unfortunately, as is often the case with these things, the orphanage is hideously underfunded and understaffed, and the Kyuubi attack leaves the whole village scattered and struggling to find its way back. And so the orphanage continues to plod along, raising the orphaned youth of Konoha with little help from the village that shuns the memory of those lost and in turn, shuns the children left alone by those memories.</p><p>There are only four caretakers in total: Katashi-san, whose round face has hardened with the years and who runs the orphanage. Eiko-san is the cook and seamstress, and always willing to slip an extra cookie into wanting hands. Rai-san and Hisa-san are employed to keep the children occupied and alive, and they do their best.</p><p>But the orphanage is not equipped to hold so many children, and so rules are put in place. Every child in the orphanage over the age of six must work; caring for the little ones, helping Eiko-san buy and cook enough food to feed them all, and tidying up the rooms and halls of the house.</p><p>One such child, Isamu, age seven, becomes the unofficial caretaker of Sakura, feeding her with bottle formula, changing her diaper, burping her when she cries, and stays with her as she sleeps, holding her tiny body close in comfort to his through the night.</p><p>And so pass the beginning years of this young girl’s life, unaware of the fate laid ahead of her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Assonance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everyone! So people have actually read this! And liked it too! I truly cannot thank you all enough for the kudos and comments, they really do mean the world to me. I genuinely didn't think this would get more than maybe 2 hits. So thank you!<br/>Let me know if you can tell I gave up on writing accurate 3-4 year olds lmao. I'm the youngest in my family, both immediate and extended so I truly have zero experience with the young ones.<br/>Also! Turns out writing is harder than I thought it was! lmao I'm a disaster ignore me pls<br/>Also why did no one inform me how difficult it is to get italics to work in html? I was most certainly unprepared and I feel betrayed.<br/>I'm hoping to have the next part up sometime next week? But no promises.<br/>Hope you enjoy this 5.7k ode of love to my fave lil beans!</p><p>Ages: Sakura (3-4), Isamu (~10), Naruto (3-4)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Assonance: repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds within words, phrases, or sentences (literaryterms.net).</p><p>OoO</p><p>A few months after Sakura turns three, she’s allowed to go past the House gates with Isamu. Sakura skips alongside Isamu, swinging their hands between them.</p><p>They’re out in the market doing what Isamu calls an ‘errand’ for Eiko-san, who needs more things for dinner tonight when Sakura sees kids she doesn’t recognize from the House. She barrages Isamu with questions about them, confused. <em>Who’s taking care of them if they don’t live in the House? Where do they stay? What do they have to eat?</em></p><p>Isamu lets out a chuckle, holding out his hands for her to stop. “Do you want me to answer your questions, Little, or would you prefer to continue bombarding me with them?” Sakura looks up, alarmed at the thought of not getting answers and snaps her mouth shut. </p><p>Isamu grins at her fondly and puts on his thinking face. Sakura imitates it, scrunching her forehead in a picture of concentration.</p><p>“Well…you know how Eiko-san, Rai-san, Hisa-san, and Katashi-san take care of us?” Sakura crinkles her nose in distaste at the mention of Katashi-san. The old caretaker is mean and yells at Sakura a lot. She doesn’t like her very much. Isamu laughs, “Come on, Little, Katashi-san isn’t that bad. She’s all bark and no bite.”</p><p>Sakura sticks her tongue out at Isamu in response, folding her arms across her chest.</p><p>He lets out one last teasing laugh before continuing, “Other kids are taken care of by adults like that too, adults they call Otou-san and Okaa-san, who are their parents. We’re special because we have four parents and live in a big house filled with siblings! Not everyone has an Otou-san or an Okaa-san to take care of them, and that’s when they’ll come to live with us, and they’ll become a part of our family. Does that make sense, Little?” At Sakura’s thoughtful nod, Isamu grins and ruffles her pink hair, ignoring her responding scowl and attempt to swat his hand away. </p><p>“So everyone in the House is part of my family?” Sakura asks, and she falls quiet at Isamu’s cheerful, “Yep!”</p><p>It’s only after they’ve turned back from the market, having purchased the herbs Eiko-san asked for, that Sakura speaks again.</p><p>“But-" She pauses, searching for the right words to say. She’s always known it’s important to be careful with talking, aware that one wrong word could earn her a swat on the wrist. She thinks back on everyone at the House, the mean girls who pull her hair and poke her forehead when Isamu isn’t around, how Katashi-san always wears a frown on her face and yelled at Sakura once when she hadn’t made it to the bathroom on time for an emergency. She remembers how Isamu came running when he heard what happened and helped her clean up as she tried not to cry and then held her in his arms and pretended not to notice when she finally broke down. How when he’s around, he makes sure that no mean girls push her and how he holds her hand and makes her feel safe.</p><p>She doesn’t like anyone in the House other than Isamu, and it strikes her suddenly, that it must be a truly terrible thing to dislike those in your family. An uncomfortable, hot feeling wells in her at the thought, but it’s not enough to stop her from asking, “What-if-I-don’t-wanna-be-family-with-everyone-in-the-House?” The ugly words leave her mouth in a rush as she looks to the ground in shame. Sakura refuses to meet Isamu’s eyes, fearful of seeing reproach and disgust in his kind face for her selfish words.</p><p>It’s quiet for a second and then Sakura hears a gentle crunch of leaves and looks to see Isamu kneeling, his soft green eyes looking into hers. She remembers believing that he was her blood-brother because they shared the same eyes. An older girl had laughed at her cruelly when Sakura made the mistake once of calling him her nii-san. Isa-san didn’t ask any questions that night when she crawled into bed with him, body shaking from tears. He had held her close and hummed a quiet tune into her ears until her breathing slowed down and she fell asleep. Like then, he doesn’t say anything now, just holds out his arms, and she tumbles into them.</p><p>“I don’t-" Sakura hiccups, hating herself for crying so easily, “I don’t wanna have everyone from the House in my family. Am I bad for only wanting you in my family?”</p><p>Isamu’s hand stops rubbing her back for a moment before resuming its calming motion, the only indicator that he heard what she said.</p><p>Sakura waits for a reply until, realizing she won’t get one, she makes a heroic effort to suck all her tears and snot back in her face where they should’ve stayed in the first place.</p><p>Giving one last sniffle, Sakura pulls back from the hug, ready to pretend she hadn’t said anything, but she’s stopped by Isamu’s hands on her shoulders.</p><p>“Isa-san?” Sakura asks, wondering why he hasn’t let go, when she looks into Isamu’s eyes. “Isa-san! Why are your eyes red? Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I promise I won’t say things like that again!”</p><p>“No,” Isamu lets out a breath, almost like a laugh, looking to the ground. Sakura’s panic begins to subside at the sound of his voice. Isamu shakes his head, laughs again, and when he looks at Sakura, he says, “No, that’s not it. I – Little, I would love to be your brother. And I’m sorry for upsetting you. I thought you’d like the idea of a big family, and I didn’t want to assume, I - People like us, we’re lucky, you see, because we get to choose our families. We don’t have to stick with the ones people tell us we belong in. We can make our own.” Isamu smiles then, and Sakura, vibrating with delight, lets out a squeal.</p><p>“Isa-nii!” She shrieks as she bowls into him once more, holding his shirt as tight as she can. Smiling into his chest, she offers a quiet, “I’m glad you’re my brother.”</p><p>Standing and offering his hand to Sakura, Isamu lets an easy grin take his face. “And I couldn’t have a better sister. Now, how about a race to the House? I bet Eiko-san’s real anxious to get these herbs in her kitchen, and she’ll give whoever gets there first a cookie.”</p><p>Ignoring Isamu’s hand, Sakura jumps to her feet, excitement making her antsy. “I’ll get there first!” She promises, already toddling fast as she can towards the House.</p><p>Isa-nii laughs behind her, a bright sound. “It’s the other way, Little!”</p><p>“I know!” Sakura turns as quickly as she can, but stumbles over her feet. Running as fast as she can, Sakura hides her answering grin to the playful taunts Isamu throws at her as he gives chase.</p><p>Sakura keeps her promise and gets to the House first, and Eiko-san does give her a cookie. But because Sakura is kind, and because Sakura is the best little sister to ever exist, and because she thinks that maybe, just maybe, Isa-nii had let her win, she splits her cookie with her older brother.</p><p>OoO</p><p>Sakura spends the time after that day hanging around Isamu even more, feeling a thrill every time she calls him nii-san and hears him respond.</p><p>Sakura is the happiest she’s ever been, and she hardly notices the changes in the wind as winter arrives and blows over and spring arrives. This time, when her birthday passes, she doesn’t mind that it’s only her and Isa-nii celebrating.</p><p>Her bubble of happiness is rudely popped one day - not by one of the mean girls, who have been leaving Sakura alone since she and Isamu decided they were family, apart from some extra-mean looks - but by her brother, who asks her if they can talk for a minute.</p><p>At first she doesn’t understand.</p><p>“What d’you mean, nii-san? You’re going away? Are you getting food for Eiko-san?” It’s normal for her big brother to leave during the day without her, especially now with the rules that don’t let her out of the House until the weather warms. Last time she went outside, she came back to the House with a fever and couldn’t get out of bed for a week. It was horrible because Isa-nii looked so scared that whole week, and mean Katashi-san yelled at her for being stupid, and Sakura couldn’t do anything about either of those things because she was shivering too much to talk.</p><p>Isa-nii looks terribly sad now too, and Sakura hates it. Anything that isn’t a smile on her nii-san’s face looks wrong. She flounders, trying to think of a way to comfort her brother.</p><p>Isamu kneels down and brushes a hand through his brown hair, and a pang of alarm runs through her. Isa-nii only plays with his hair when he’s nervous. And he’s only nervous when he has to tell Sakura something he knows she won’t like.</p><p>“Nii-san?” She asks again, still unsure about what’s happening, but determined to understand.</p><p>“Sakura, I-“ Isamu stops, and Sakura feels a hot thread of panic snake through her chest. Isa-nii  never calls her by her name. She can’t remember the last time he called her Sakura. <em>He’s going to tell you that he doesn’t want to be your brother anymore. Those girls were right, you’re too annoying, and -</em> “Do you remember the couple from yesterday that played with us?” <em>Oh</em>.</p><p>Sakura nods. Isamu was trying to teach her a game he called ‘Shogi’ and Sakura had been struggling to understand the rules. She had been about to cry when two old people sat with them and offered to help. Sakura ended up watching the old woman play Isamu as the old man sat beside Sakura and asked her weird questions about food.</p><p>“What did you think about them?” Isamu asks, and Sakura frowns. Why was her nii-san asking her about the old people from yesterday?</p><p>“They’re nice?” She says, the statement curving up at the end like a question. “The weird old man asked me a lot of questions about what I like to eat, but he was nice too. Why?”</p><p>Isa-nii’s forehead smooths out slightly, and he seems to relax a little before saying, “You know you’ll always be my baby sister, right, Little?”</p><p>“Of course!” She says, putting her hands on her hips like she’d see Rai-san do sometimes when she tells them to clean up. “We’re family, and family’s forever!”</p><p>“That’s right,” Isamu chuckles, his easy smile returning to his face as he reaches out to ruffle Sakura’s hair. She swats his hand away, like she always does, but instead of teasing her, Isamu’s face drops into a serious look again. “Little, they want me to live with them.”</p><p>“What?” Sakura feels the world stop around her, and her heart drops in her chest, making it difficult to breathe. She can hear Isamu talking but none of his words get through the voices in her head murmuring <em>no no no nonononono</em>. Sakura scrunches her face and pinches her arm. The voices quiet, the world coming back to her in a rush of pain.</p><p>“ – married twenty years but never had a son or daughter of their own. They’ve been so lonely, you see, and they moved to Konoha only two years ago, so they don’t have any other family with them. They came to the House a week ago, Little. They run a food stall in the market, and they recognized me from all the errands I run for Eiko-san and we started talking, and they came here yesterday to finalize everything, and I didn’t tell you because – well, I wanted it to be a surprise, that we were getting out of the House, and that we were going to be together, but they just realized yesterday that they can’t, you-” Isamu takes a breath, and finishes with a quiet, “They don’t have enough money and space to adopt you too.”</p><p>Sakura stumbles back a step, short legs giving out as she falls to the floor. “You’re-” She shakes her head, the noise in her mind overwhelming her thoughts. “You’re leaving me?”</p><p>“No!” Isamu says vehemently, eyes pleading. “No! I would never! I – The Hayashis understand that I’m used to being independent, and they don’t want to split us up. I’ll have one day a week when I can visit, and then we can play and you can tell me everything about your week, and I promise, Little, I promise, that I will never, <em>ever</em>, leave you. You’re stuck with me, alright?”</p><p>He crouches on the ground, eye-level with Sakura, waiting to speak until she looks up. “Little, no matter what happens, no matter the distance between us, we will always be family. Family doesn’t just stop being family because of something so silly as living in different places. As long as we care about each other – and I will never stop caring about you – we will be family. You still care about me, don’t you?”</p><p>“Yes!” Sakura says, surprised by his question. “Of course! I just –“ She looks down again, embarrassment coating her words. “I’ll miss you.”</p><p>“Oh, Little,” Isamu says, warm and gentle, “I’ll miss you too.”</p><p>This time Sakura doesn’t wait for Isamu’s invitation, and lunges into his arms, holding onto him as if planning to never let go. Isamu lets out a surprised <em>oof</em>, falling onto the ground. Slowly his arms raise to hold Sakura too, and Sakura stays there a while, content in his embrace and unwilling to part with him.</p><p>Eventually Isamu speaks up, “Hey, Little? I know that I make a super comfortable pillow, but this floor isn’t exactly doing it for me. How about you help me pack? You know I’ll forget something really important, and you’re so much better at organizing –”</p><p>Sakura cuts him off, jumping to her feet. “Of course! You’re so forgetful, Isa-nii, I don’t know how you’ll live without me.”</p><p>“I don’t know either, Little,” Isamu grins, following her as she leads them into the room they share with six other kids, determined to make sure her big brother would have everything he needed when he left.</p><p>The morning that Isamu leaves, Sakura cries so much that she thinks she would see a puddle underneath her feet if she looked down, filled with her tears. Isa-nii holds onto her, whispering promises of all the things he’ll bring her when he visits, and how she better <em>swear you won’t forget me and go off and grow up all without me</em>.</p><p>The old man - Hayashi Daiki, Isa-nii had told her – steps forward after a minute of this, his own face a little wet. “Well!” He says in a booming voice, “I hope to see you at our stand every now and then, Sakura-chan! It’s clear this boy wouldn’t know what to do without you, and I, for one, would certainly love to finish our discussion on the merits of apple juice as opposed to apple cider!”</p><p>Sakura stands quietly, confused by the words Daiki-san is saying, but aware that it is impolite to not respond. She’s deciding between nodding and thanking him when she’s saved by the old woman slapping Daiki-san’s arm and saying, “Cut it out, Daiki! You’re scaring the poor girl!”</p><p>“Not at all, Riku!” He exclaims, gesturing towards Sakura, “She knows I mean well, don’t you, Sakura-chan?”</p><p>“Oh, uh,” Sakura starts, surprised at being addressed by the big man, “I’m alright, Riku-san.”</p><p>“Hm,” the old woman says, giving Sakura an appraising eye. “Well, all right, so long as you say it’s okay.” Turning to her husband, she mutters, “Come now, give the children some space to talk and stop bothering them.” They walk away, continuing to gently bicker.</p><p>Isamu turns to Sakura, a sunny grin spreading on his face, his cheeks pushed up from the force of it. “They’re pretty cool, aren’t they?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Sakura agrees, pushing down the part of her that’s still upset at her brother leaving her and letting herself feel happy for him instead. “Yeah, they are.”</p><p>“Hey,” He says, leaning down, “If anything bad happens to you, you let me know, okay? Family protects each other.”</p><p>Sakura’s cheeks burn in embarrassment. She thought she’d done well in hiding the mean girls’ torment of her from her brother. “Only if you let me protect you too,” She says instead of giving into her shame, glaring at Isamu.</p><p>Isamu’s face drops slightly in comical shock, before lighting up with delight. “Well, well, Little, with you as my protector, no one would dare bother me!” His hand reaches down to mess with Sakura’s hair, and she lightly shoves at his arm before he ruins her carefully-brushed pigtails.</p><p>“You better tell me everything when I come visit, alright?” Isa-nii says, pointing his finger down at her in mock-strictness. “Just because I’m not around doesn’t mean you can go around getting into trouble without me.”</p><p>Sakura doesn’t have time to respond before Daiki-san yells, “We gotta go, Isamu-kun! If we stay any longer, Riku’s going to –”</p><p>He’s stopped with Riku-san’s hand to his mouth, who looks incredibly unruffled as she says, “Don’t listen to a thing this foolish man says, it’s all nonsense. But we really must be going now, dear. There’s not much time left before the market opens.”</p><p>“Alright!” Isa-nii shouts back. Turning to Sakura, he says, “I’ll be seeing you soon, Little,” with a wink that looks out of place on his tear-streaked face. And Sakura watches as her brother walks away from her and towards the people he’s leaving her for, and she tries to feel happy for him. She really does. She wants her Isa-nii to be happy, and around Riku-san and Daiki-san he seems to glow with happiness, in a way she’s never seen.</p><p>But all she manages to feel is sadness, and that night, she sleeps in an empty bed for the first time in her life.</p><p>OoO</p><p>Sakura loves the garden.</p><p>It’s one of her favorite places within the gates of the House, full of color and birds who like to swoop in and sit among the branches of the trees. On the days when Isa-nii was out at school, or buying supplies for Eiko-san, Sakura would spend all day out in the garden. Sometimes Hisa-san came out and would teach her things, like how to plant flowers and water them so they could grow, and how, if you saved some of your dinner and brought it out with you and stayed extra still, the birds might come down and eat out of your hand. Sometimes she’d try to imitate the birds’ chirping, liking to imagine that they were talking to her.</p><p>Today, though, Sakura can’t find the peace she usually does. Today, she’s not outside with the birds waiting for Isa-nii to come back. Because he’s not coming back.</p><p>She sighs, letting her hands trail around the pretty pink flower at her feet.</p><p>A memory sparks. <em>Gladiolus</em>, she thinks, <em>also known as Sword-Lily. Represents strength and faithfulness. Grows up to five feet tall. Blooms for only two weeks a year</em>. The simple facts ease her mind, and she mentally thanks Yamanaka-san for insisting on teaching her about plants every time she came into the shop with Isa-nii.</p><p>A mocking voice pierces through Sakura’s temporary peace.</p><p>“Look, it’s the little princess.” A girl walks towards Sakura, brown eyes focused with cruelty.</p><p><em>Oh no. Not today</em>. Sakura shrinks into the ground. Her hands clench at the dirt under her.</p><p>“Heard your nii-san left you,” says the second girl, looking bored as she twirls a strand of hair around her finger.</p><p>“Oh, please, Haya,” scoffs the first girl – <em>Nagi</em>, Sakura remembers, “They aren’t actually siblings. Little Sakura here just started calling Isamu-kun that and he was too nice to tell her to stop. But we all knew he couldn’t wait to get out and leave her. Isn’t that right, Sakura-<em>chan</em>?” She leans over Sakura as she adds the endearment at the end, savage confidence written in every line of her body.</p><p>“No! That isn’t true!” Sakura shouts back with a ferocity that surprises her. But even as she speaks, the girl keeps advancing on her, and Sakura falls back, feeling impossibly small. </p><p>“Nii-san – nii-san wanted to take me with him! He would never leave me!”</p><p>“Oh?” The girl sneers, stepping closer to Sakura’s prone body. “He tell you that the people adopting him didn’t have enough space, didn’t have enough money?”</p><p>“W-what?” Sakura sniffs, daring to look up at the girls as shock courses through her. “How did you know?”</p><p>“It’s not true, obviously,” the other mean girl – Haya  – says, and the way she looks at Sakura makes her feel as tiny and insignificant as a bug. “Isamu-kun just wanted to get away from your ugly face and had to tell you that so that you’d leave him alone.” She scoffs. “As if you’re anything to someone like Isamu-kun. He’s always been too good for you.”</p><p>“No, that’s not – you’re lying,” Sakura says, but she feels her certainty fade with every word the girls say. Her hands tighten even more against the dirt and she feels a <em>snap</em>. It’s the Gladiolus flower. Sakura breaks. Tears run down her face as she cradles the broken stem gently in her hands.</p><p>“See?” The first girl laughs. “Isamu-kun would never want to be related to a crybaby like you.”</p><p>“Hey!” A small boy with spiky blond hair runs out and stands in front of Sakura, arms spread wide. “Stop being so mean!”</p><p>“Oh look, the monster’s come to protect the little princess,” The girl says, sneering at him.</p><p>Through her teary eyes, Sakura sees a shudder pass through the boy’s small body.</p><p>“I’m not a monster!” He shouts back, sounding desperate and there’s something underneath, something that feels so <em>sad-broken-lonely</em>, that Sakura feels a part of her rise in recognition. “But if you don’t leave, I’ll fight you! I’m not scared!” He raises his fists, so small against the older girls that the sight is almost laughable.</p><p>The girls do laugh, but they look uneasy now, eyes weighing the risk of facing the boy’s anger for the satisfaction of bullying Sakura. </p><p>“Sounds like the beginning to a story,” Haya says, her voice loud but unsure, “The demon monster defending the spoiled and ugly princess.”</p><p>The first girl lets out a dramatic sigh, rolling her eyes. “Let’s leave the two alone, Haya. They’re clearly made for each other’s company.”</p><p>Sakura doesn’t breathe until she sees the two girls disappear into the House.</p><p>The boy turns back towards her, grins, and says, “Hi! I’m Uzumaki Naruto and I’m going to be Hokage one day!”</p><p>Sakura blinks up at him once. </p><p>Twice.</p><p>She starts crying again. Her ugly, wracking sobs disturb the birds, who fly out of the trees, chirping loudly as if scolding her. Any thoughts of embarrassment are far past her. She holds the flower in her hand tighter and then loosens her grip, growing still more upset at the idea of crushing the petals.</p><p>“Uh,” The boy says, clearly unsure what to do. Then, “You like flowers?”</p><p>The strange question cuts through Sakura’s tears. She looks up, surprised.</p><p>The boy – Naruto – points to the broken flower in Sakura’s hand. Her tears come back with a vengeance.</p><p>“Oh! Uh, no don’t cry! I like flowers too!” He waves his hands in front of his face as if trying to dispel the words that made her cry.  “’Specially those ones, y’know, that are red? And yellow. Mostly red, but with yellow lines on the red? They look super cool! Kinda like a fire, right? And they’re shaped like this –” He brings his hands together at the wrists, connecting his thumbs and pinky fingers and letting the other fingers fan out. “- and they face up, and they’re super colorful!”</p><p>As Naruto talks, Sakura’s tears slow down, and by the end she’s curiously looking at him, wiping her face.</p><p>“Flame lilies,” She says quietly. Yamanaka-san had shown her those flowers the first day she’d been in the shop. He told her they were given the name, ‘Gloriosa’, meaning full of glory, which he explained meant something you get when you do something cool. And they can also help when you’re hurt, but she better not try to eat it, because that would be <em>bad</em>.</p><p>Naruto’s looking at her with a weird expression on his face, and Sakura blushes and ducks her head back down.</p><p>She prepares for him to laugh at her and call her a freak, like the other girls do whenever she says something weird, but instead he says, “Flame lilies, huh?” and scratches his neck in thought. “Guess that makes sense! ‘Cuz they look like fire and everything. You’re really smart, aren’t you? How d’you know all that stuff?”</p><p><em>Oh</em>, Sakura thinks in pleasant surprise.</p><p>“Well,” she says, “I used to go to the Yamanaka flower shop with my big brother. Yamanaka-san likes telling about the plants they have there.”</p><p>“You have a big brother?”</p><p>Naruto’s face is open with amazement, and Sakura hesitates, remembering the girls’ words from only a few minutes ago.</p><p>“I -” She pauses. “Yes, I do.” She nods firmly. <em>Those girls are just mean. Nii-san would never do anything like that</em>. “He doesn’t live here anymore though.”</p><p>“Really? That’s so cool!” Naruto’s honest excitement makes the shadow in Sakura’s heart disappear and she smiles for the first time that day, a timid and small turn of her lips.</p><p>“Yeah,” She says, “It is pretty cool.”</p><p>“Oh!” Naruto says loudly, pointing to a spiky green plant. “D’you know what this one is?”</p><p>Sakura twists, looking at the plant.</p><p>“That’s called aloe vera,” she says, Yamanaka-san’s words coming back to her. He’d given her a whole speech on this plant, telling her it was the key to his ‘beautiful porcelain skin’. Something tells her Naruto wouldn’t care too much about that. “Inside these leaves, there’s a kind of gel that can help burns and stuff like that.”</p><p>“That’s so cool!” Naruto enthuses, bouncing on his heels. He turns in a circle, his bubbly exuberance making Sakura giggle. “Do this one!” He’s pointing at a flower near the roots of the one tree they have in the garden.</p><p>“This one?” Sakura kneels beside it, looking at the white flower. “Oh, I think this one’s called bloodroot. You aren’t supposed to eat it.”</p><p>“Wow!” Naruto looks over her shoulder at the plant. He points to the one next to it. “How about this one! Oh! And this one! This one’s super pretty, does it do anything?”</p><p>Sakura laughs, following Naruto as he jumps from plant to plant.</p><p>They spend the afternoon like that, Sakura teaching Naruto about the plants they have in the garden. Some of them she doesn’t know, and Naruto will tell her the names he’s given them instead. By the time the sun’s light filters only weakly through the leaves, Sakura has met Ai-san, Miki-chan, Nori-baa-san, and Yoshi-sama.</p><p>
  <em>“Why Yoshi-sama?” Sakura had asked, brushing her fingers across the blue petals.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Naruto examined the flower seriously, then laughed and brought his hand up to rub his neck.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I dunno, jus’ felt right, I guess,”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sakura giggled and bumped her shoulder against his. “I get it,” She said, blushing at Naruto’s shy smile.</em>
</p><p>The two only part when the dinner bell rings. Sakura needs to change her shorts, which have dirt all over them from her sitting on the ground, but promises Naruto that she’ll find him when she gets to the food hall.</p><p>She hums happily as she skips into the food hall, feeling an unfamiliar sort of bright confidence. She’d just remembered a plant Yamanaka-san had told her about, one that could trap its prey in its mouth. Sakura has a feeling Naruto would love hearing about it.</p><p>But as she looks for Naruto in the crowd, she can’t find him.</p><p>She frowns, weaving her way between the legs, looking for that flash of blond hair and blue eyes. When she finally spots him, he’s surrounded by a group of older kids. But something’s off.</p><p>Naruto is crouching. It reminds Sakura of when she shrank down into the dirt, trying to make herself as small as possible, as if by taking up the least amount of space she could, the older girls would forget about her and walk away.</p><p>It looks wrong – Naruto is supposed to be bright and happy and loud and strong, and he should be smiling. But he’s not doing any of those things right now. He’s small and hiding and his head is braced under his hands like he’s trying to protect himself from whatever’s being said. Only his eyes are visible, and they look so sad, and so hurt, that<br/>
Sakura feels her heart twinge a little.</p><p>Sakura walks up to the group. No one minds her because she’s so small, but she can hear what they’re all saying now.</p><p>
  <em>Why don’t you just leave?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Everyone knows you’re a monster. Why can’t you leave us all alone?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I heard someone say that you growled at them once and the next day her hands were burned and when she woke up she couldn’t see anything.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Did you curse her?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We’d all be better off if you weren’t here.</em>
</p><p>With every word, the light in Naruto’s eyes seems to dim, and he curls in on himself. His body flinches at the last comment, and that’s enough for Sakura.</p><p>She pushes through the bodies and stands in front of Naruto, hands on her hips, in much the same way he had done for her.</p><p>“Stop!” She cries out, hating the way her voice wavers at the word but standing her ground.</p><p>The voices stop for a moment in shock. When they start up again they’re louder, hissed warnings.</p><p>
  <em>What are you doing?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You’re not safe so close to him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’ll hurt you, you know. He’s not human.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s not like the rest of us.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s a monster.</em>
</p><p>“Why are you all being so mean?” Sakura asks. “He hasn’t done anything bad, he’s just a boy. And if you don’t stop, I’ll call for Eiko-san.”</p><p>A boy steps forward, hands out soothingly. “Don’t you know? He’s not a boy. Out in the village, all the adults say it. He’s a demon, he’s not safe. If you don’t get away from him, he’ll hurt you.”</p><p>“No!” Sakura looks down at Naruto and then back at the boy, outrage flaring from every inch of her small body. “Don’t you see him? He’s <em>exactly</em> like the rest of us, but he’s better because he’s kind and he smiles and you’re <em>hurting</em> him, why can’t you see that?”</p><p>The boy hesitates, looking between the two of them before his expression hardens. “He’s a monster, and if you’re protecting him, then you are too.”</p><p>Sakura stumbles back, murmurs of <em>monster</em> crowding her head. Her foot is stopped by a warm body, and she sees Naruto, head still down, his gentle, caring face hidden from her view.</p><p>She remembers the way he protected her from those mean girls, how he got excited by the plants and listened to her talk. How he smiled and laughed, loud but desperate, like he had something to prove. How those girls in the garden called him <em>monster</em> then too. How he should be standing tall and telling dumb jokes and making Sakura smile but these people, they took that away and now he’s on the ground, curled up in a ball like he’s never getting up again and she feels something inside her burst.</p><p>Sakura glares up at the boy, and then makes sure to look at everyone else standing around Naruto.</p><p>“I’m protecting him because he’s my family!” She shouts. “And family protects family! <em>You’re</em> the monsters!”</p><p>Her words steady her, and she stays in front of Naruto, arms spread wide. When the boy steps forward as if to get behind her, she moves to block him and looks up at his face, giving him her best imitation of Katashi-san’s glare.</p><p>It must work because he backs up and hesitates for only a moment before turning away.</p><p>Slowly, the crowd disperses, and Sakura refuses to move until the last of them leave, distracted by the promise of dinner and better entertainment.</p><p>It’s not until she feels a tug on her shirt that she looks back down.</p><p>Naruto is staring at her, awe written on every part of his face. Sakura fights the urge to hide her face. <em>You’re strong now. Don’t look away.</em></p><p>She smiles instead, says, “Hi,” and waves. Immediately she wants to take it back, but Naruto’s face lights up and he smiles, a big, bright thing that takes up his whole face.</p><p>“Hi,” He says shyly, and then, “Did you mean what you said? About family?”</p><p>Naruto has the same expression that Sakura recognized in the garden, the desperate mix of <em>sad-broken-lonely</em> that called to her, but now it’s tinged with a new edge of overwhelming and delicate hope.</p><p>Sakura feels the surety rise in her. She doesn’t quite understand why, but she knows that Naruto is, without any doubt, part of her family now. And family protects each other, and family is forever, and she can choose her family and she chooses Naruto.</p><p>“Yes!” She says, and Naruto’s face is like the sun, raw happiness threatening to burst in a show of blinding light, and Sakura can’t help her laugh as she reaches her arms out and hugs Naruto as tightly as she can. “You’re my little brother, now, okay? And you have a big brother too, and we’ll protect you from all those mean people and we won’t let them say anything mean to you ever again. Promise.”</p><p>And Naruto holds onto her, and Sakura lets him cry on her shoulder like her Isa-nii had let her all that time ago, and she feels better than she has in a long time.</p><p>And when she hears that Naruto sleeps on the floor in the hall because the kids in his room won't let him sleep with them, she takes his hand and brings him to her bed, and tells him he can stay with her.</p><p>And that night, as she holds her little brother in her arms, Sakura knows that she will follow him anywhere to keep him safe and smiling.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So...<br/>Sakura's a lil awkward bean huh? She's sweet though, she really does mean the best. But she certainly has a lot of room to grow. And grow she will!!! I love her with all my heart and I have only the most high quality character development planned for her and all my lil beans &lt;3<br/>I know this isn't necessarily accurate to the 3-4 year old's brain? But I also figure, y'know, Kakashi was a genin at 5 and chunin at 6 so like. Naruto world canonically has some very fast learners and quick mental development. Artistic license!!<br/>Full confession, I know absolutely nothing about plants. I googled a bunch of flowers and only a little bit of that got in here rip. But I wonder who the Yamanaka in the flower shop is?? O^O<br/>I kept getting impatient when I was writing this - I just wanted Sakura to meet Naruto!!!<br/>Anyways, Sakura is canonically older than Naruto by a few months - she's actually the oldest of her team (apart from Kakashi) and Naruto's the youngest. I want Sakura and Naruto to have their own yard where they can just plant everything they want and Naruto can name them and I just love them they're so cute and little.<br/>I just wanna give all my babies a big ol hug.<br/>Let me know your thoughts and any questions you have! I really love seeing your comments, it's so cool to see ~<br/>(also if anyone was wondering, the chapter title 'assonance' was supposed to mean like. Sakura's finding people who have the same 'sounds' as her - like how found family is based on people of like-minds and such. So the 'repetition of similar sounds' are the similarities in principals, the way the world is interpreted, just like the foundational understanding of everything that you can find in people who are like you, and what Sakura finds in Isamu and Naruto. I don't know if that actually makes sense outside of my head though so I didn't put that up there lmao)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey all! Sorry for taking so long - this semester is turning out to be a whole lot harder than I expected.</p><p>I'm not too happy with this chapter, and I initially planned for this to cover more than it does. But I finished this part last month, and got worried that if I didn't get this out now, I never would. Can't make any promises about when the next chapter will be out, but I can promise that there will be a LOT more action in it.</p><p>A lot of time passes here (a little less than 2 years!) but there's not a lot of story to go with it! Sorry if it seems rushed, I'm not super great with time skips, but I figured y'all didn't need to read twenty pages on Naruto and Sakura's 5-year old antics in the orphanage.</p><p>Ages: Sakura 6, Naruto 5, Isamu 12</p><p>Just one more chapter 'til they're in the Academy!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Come on, Isa-nii’s gonna be here any minute!” Sakura shouts as she pulls Naruto’s lagging form behind her.</p><p>There’s a tug on her hand and Sakura stops, twisting to look at her brother. His head is down, and his free hand curls into a fist.</p><p>After only a few days of having Naruto in her family, Sakura has become a bit of an expert on her brother’s tells. She’s always been observant, preferring to blend into the crowd and watch others rather than participate herself. From watching people, she’s learned that adults don’t mean what they say all the time, and that sometimes she can figure out what they want from how they move and look. Her skills have become surprisingly important in her relationship with Naruto.</p><p>She’s compiled her observations into a list:<br/>
</p><p>1. Sometimes he goes quiet when they’re around others. Especially when those people are adults. (Whenever he goes silent, Sakura makes sure to hold his hand extra tight.)<br/>
</p><p>2. His loudest moments are when he’s really feeling the saddest. (This, she had been most surprised by. It’s such a different reaction from her own, that instead of crying and hiding, when Naruto was upset he would smile brighter and laugh even harder.)</p><p>3. When Naruto was feeling anxious or uncomfortable, he would clench his fists, as if readying for a fight.</p><p>Sakura had begun to unconsciously mirror his gestures in her own body, and found that curling her fingers into her palms steadied her. The feeling of clenched fists was grounding, and it had the bonus effect of making her seem bigger and scarier. Whenever she caught someone looking at Naruto with that burning look in their eyes, she would fist her hands and glare them down until they backed away. There was always a glimmer of fear in those eyes as they stared at Naruto and that made Sakura even angrier.</p><p>
  <i>What right do they have to be afraid of him when all he’s ever done is be kind?? What right do they have to spit on my little brother and tell him he’s a monster as if he would ever hurt anyone?</i>
</p><p>Right now, though, she doesn’t know what could be making him uncomfortable.</p><p>“Otouto?” She asks, leading him over to the wall and sitting down. “What is it?”</p><p>Naruto opens his mouth, hesitates, and closes it again, shaking his head.</p><p>“It’s nothing Sakura-chan. I’m ready now,” He smiles bright and starts to stand up.</p><p>“Oh no, you’re not. Sit back down,” Sakura tugs on his shirt. She isn’t quite used to playing this role yet, of the older sister caring for the scared brother, but she does her best and thinks about what Isa-nii would do if he were here. <i>Isa-nii</i>. It doesn’t make sense, but Sakura can’t think of anything else that could be bothering Naruto. “Is it Isa-nii?”</p><p>Naruto’s eyes shimmer and he ducks his head between his knees, furiously refusing to meet Sakura’s eyes.</p><p>“What if – What if he doesn’t like me?” Each word is punctuated with a shake of his body, and Naruto sniffles. “They always say that I’m a, I’m a monster and that I shouldn’t – ” sniff “That I’ll always be alone and I’m cursed and – ” He finally looks up at Sakura. “What if they’re right and then if your brother doesn’t want me I can’t be in your family and then I won’t have you either and – ”</p><p>Naruto’s words are stopped when Sakura pulls him into her arms.</p><p>“That won’t happen,” she says fiercely, hands tangled in his golden hair. “I won’t let that happen.”</p><p>Naruto’s “promise?” is muffled by her shoulder and anger rises in Sakura, something big and wild and <i>how can he still be so scared</i> and <i>how can people be so mean</i> and <i>I won’t let anyone make him feel this way ever again</i>.</p><p>Instead she says, “I promise.” It isn’t until Naruto lets out a protesting squeak that she realizes her hands have turned to fists in Naruto’s hair and she’s pulling on his scalp.</p><p>Sakura quickly lets go and stands, offering her hand in peace. As Naruto grabs onto it, she yanks him close and rubs a fist on his head, an apology for the abuse.</p><p>“Besides, Isa-nii isn’t like everyone else. He’s good,” she says meaningfully, and hopes Naruto understands. She can’t quite explain the goodness of Isa-nii, something that she just knows in the same way she knows the sun will rise in the morning and that Eiko-san likes to pretend she doesn’t have any cookies but will slip her one with a wink once they’re alone.</p><p>Naruto squints up at her and then grins, tear tracks glistening in the morning light.</p><p>“Okay,” he says, and bounds off in the direction of the Gate. “I’ll see him first!”</p><p>Sakura laughs and feels the tense grip around her chest relax. “You wish!” She calls back and gives chase, feeling like a bird given flight from a small cage.</p><p>Naruto gets to the Gate before her but it’s Sakura who sees Isa-nii first, his walk achingly familiar.</p><p>“Isa-nii!” Sakura barrels into her older brother, arms wrapping tightly around his legs.</p><p>He lets out a whoop as he lifts her and tosses her into the air, catching her as she shrieks in delight.</p><p>“Little!” Isamu grins at Sakura as he puts her down, ruffling her hair. She lets him get away with it, caught up in the euphoria of seeing her brother again. His grin quickly turns to a frown and he eyes her suspiciously, his hand flattening on her head and moving towards his body. It lands right above his hips and he gasps.</p><p>“I knew it! You’ve been growing without my permission! Who authorized you to get this tall, young lady?” He puts his hands on his hips and tries to frown sternly. It doesn’t work with his face and twists back up to a smile.</p><p>Sakura huffs but, like Isa-nii, finds herself unable to erase her smile.</p><p>“Hi,” a quiet voice says from behind Sakura.</p><p>“Oh!” Sakura steps back from Isa-nii and holds her hand out for Naruto. “This is Naruto,” she says when he takes her hand, gripping tightly. “He likes flowers, he’s four like me, and he’s my brother too.” She finishes with an upward tilt of her chin, and tries to tell Isamu with her eyes that this is important and nonnegotiable.</p><p>But he’s not looking at her and has squatted down to meet Naruto’s eyes.</p><p>“Naruto, huh?” Naruto’s expression wavers before he tucks his lips in and gives Isamu a determined nod. Isamu sticks his hand out and shakes Naruto’s hand. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Naruto. I’m Isamu, Sakura’s big brother. You know what that means, right?”</p><p>Naruto’s eyebrows pinch together in an expression of confusion. “. . .No?”</p><p>Isamu’s face melts into a grin and, in a quick movement, uses his hand to tug Naruto in under his arm.</p><p>“That means you’re my little brother too,” he says, lightly rubbing Naruto’s head with his other hand, in much the same way Sakura had before.</p><p>Sakura sees Naruto’s eyes widen. His mouth opens and closes again. He seems afraid to speak, as if doing so would wake him up from this reality.</p><p>When it becomes clear that he won’t be moving anytime soon, Sakura chimes in.</p><p>“Naruto’s going to be the Hag-ag-lay when he’s older!”</p><p>Isa-nii looks at her, amusement running in his eyes.</p><p>“Hokage?” He asks.</p><p>Sakura sticks her tongue out at him. “That’s what I said,”</p><p>Isamu nudges Naruto. “Hokage of Konohagakure, huh? You wanna be a shinobi?”</p><p>Shaken out of his trance, Naruto frowns. “. . .shinobi?”</p><p>“The Hokage is the village leader, but he’s also the strongest shinobi in Konoha.” Isamu explains. “He has to be, so he can protect all of us if someone comes to hurt us.”</p><p>Naruto’s eyes light up and his mouth forms an ‘o’.</p><p>“I know that!” He grins. “I’m gonna be the strongest shinobi ever! Believe it!”</p><p>Isa-nii’s mouth twitches, like he wants to laugh, but he doesn’t. Instead he says, “I believe it. It will take a lot of time and hard work. But it’s clear that you have it in you.”</p><p>Naruto looks down, face flushed a deep red and lips pulled up in a shy smile. The blush spreads down to his neck as Isamu squeezes his shoulder.</p><p>Sakura giggles at Naruto’s face. She’s never thought much about the future, always tied up in the now. But she promised herself that she would never leave Naruto behind, and if he’s going to be the one protecting the village, then who will keep him safe?</p><p>She has a feeling that Naruto wouldn’t like being told that she wants to protect him, so she says:</p><p>“I wanna be a shinobi too! I’m gonna help Otouto keep those bad guys away!” And she curls her hands into fists and snaps her arms out in front of her, like she’s punching someone.</p><p>Naruto grins and says, loud and happy, “Yeah! No one can beat us when we’re together!”</p><p>Isamu laughs.</p><p>“If you two are going to be shinobi, you have to go to the Ninja Academy.”</p><p>“That’s so cool!” Naruto enthuses, jumping up and down.</p><p>Naruto’s energy makes Sakura giddy and she chases after him, laughing, “If you’re gonna be the Hokage, you gotta be faster than me!”</p><p>OoO</p><p>When they tell Katashi-san that they want to be ninjas, the old caretaker sternly tells them that it’s not a decision to be made thoughtlessly. Sakura holds her ground and Naruto’s hand and repeats herself. Katashi-san’s face drops into an odd expression that Sakura had never seen on her. Before Sakura can wonder about the strange look, Katashi-san sends them off to do dishes, even though Naruto’s washing night is the next day and Sakura had cleaned them that morning.</p><p>Time passes quickly after that. Sakura grows tired of Naruto coming to bed at night with more bruises than he woke up with. The next time she hears a sneering voice, she walks up to the boy and punches him in the easiest-to-reach spot - his knee - as hard as she can. Her strength must be more than she realizes because she feels something shift under her fist and the boy falls to the ground. After that, people mostly leave them alone. Naruto grows less jumpy at corners and his smiles begin to feel real more often than not.</p><p>Because neither of them have friends, apart from Isamu, Sakura and Naruto spend most of their time together. They play tag in the morning and care for the garden in the afternoon, and when it finally gets warm outside, they’re allowed to go outside of the Gates and explore the forests. Whenever Isamu comes around, they’re eager to show him their latest discoveries from their adventures. Isamu always has something interesting to add and teach them, and with his help, Sakura and Naruto become experts at climbing trees.</p><p> The leaves change from green to orange and fall on the ground. They're replaced with crystals of frozen water, and the branches of the trees glimmer proudly in the sun's faint light. Naruto goes outside one day and comes back in, red-cheeked and excited. He brings Sakura to the garden where she sees the soft white snow that fell overnight and now blankets Konoha in a chilled hug. Eventually, the snow melts and the birds return from their yearly migration. Sakura's birthday passes again, but she's too busy playing with Naruto to notice it this time around.</p><p>A few months after Sakura turns six, she’s moved out of the House with Naruto. They’re brought to an old building and given a key – apparently, when they begin training at the Ninja Academy, they’ll be expected to take care of themselves. The apartment building is a rickety old thing, with missing shingles on the roof and some odd-shaped windows that may just be holes.</p><p>The caretakers explain to them that they’ll receive a weekly allowance to pay for food, clothes, and supplies.</p><p>Isamu helps them move into the apartment.</p><p>It’s small with only four rooms: a kitchen that opens to the living room, one bedroom, and a bathroom. The pipes in the bathroom creak when the toilet flushes, and the shower water has only two temperatures - burning hot and icy cold. The bedroom is slightly larger than the bathroom and has two futons, which Naruto and Sakura eagerly push together. There’s very little closet space and only one bureau but Sakura doesn’t mind - they don’t have many clothes anyways. The kitchen and living room have mold growing on the walls, and Sakura almost steps on a rat when she first enters their new home.</p><p>But the windows in the living room are big and face east, with a beautiful view of the street. They don’t have any garden space like back at the House, but the sun comes in bright through the windows and Naruto and Sakura make enthusiastic plans for a little indoor garden.</p><p>Naruto thinks that the person in the apartment next to them is a ghost, and Sakura’s not convinced that he’s wrong, with the groaning and murmurs that come from the wall.</p><p>Excitement keeps Sakura and Naruto up their first night. They spend the time exploring every inch of their home - of which there are very few - and settle down in front of the windows. Leaning up against each other, they watch the nightlife of Konoha spark to life and exchange whispers about the future.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So! They've done it! They're on their own!! What kind of shenanigans do you want to see Naruto and Sakura undertake now that they're free?!</p><p>And how has the return to school been for all of y'all Covid-affected students out there? How is online school treating you?</p><p>Take care of yourselves!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>